


a much needed rest

by Echo (Lyrecho)



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Mementos, Oneshot, Team as basically family, Teenagers, could be canon compliant, headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 03:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10778214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrecho/pseuds/Echo
Summary: In which status effects are the worst, Ann is the absolute best, Futaba is probably running a spy ring and teenage boys will be exactly that.|Tumblr||Twitter|





	a much needed rest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KlonoaDreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KlonoaDreams/gifts).



> For KlonoaDreams, who listens to me scream about Persona 5 on tumblr and who will undoubtedly write the best P5 fic in existence! 
> 
> I still have so many ideas ughhhhh

Ann had really come to hate status effects.

That wasn't what they'd called them originally - curses, maybe; a pain in the ass, for sure - but the general umbrella term hadn't come about until Futaba had. A name to call them certainly made things easier, she supposed, but it definitely didn't make her like them any better.

Once upon a time, she'd thought physical pain was the worst thing a person could face. Kamoshida - he'd taught her to know better than that. Battling shadows was hard, always, and usually painful, too. But the thing that always made her want to run wasn't fire roaring at her - she had Carmen, she laughed at the prospect of fire harming her - or ice closing tight on skin. It was when Morgana's voice rang out in panic, Futaba's following him: Queen is confused! Joker! Pull yourself together!

She'd never forget the look Ryuji had had on his face in Madarame's Palace after he'd finally snapped out of his confusion as Akira had dealt their enemy a fatal blow - staring at her and the rapidly bruising hit he'd smashed along her cheek.

In the Metaverse, just simply her own cognition of her true self and strength meant her skin didn't break easily, that pain was lesser than it should have been. The bruise had faded after a night's sleep and she hadn't blamed Ryuji for it at all - but he'd been cautious around her for days afterwards; in the Palace using his own body as a shield for her even when she told him to stop.

So no, the worst thing about fighting shadows wasn't the physical damage they could deal out - it was the lingering pain the could inflict on the mind, turning them against themselves and eachother.

Usually, status effects faded after the shadow that had inflicted them was defeated - but sleep was a rare exception. Maybe the initial hit of sleep was 'magical,' but after that the body simply took over, and the best thing they could do was just wait for their party members to wake up.

"Can you tell how deep they are, Futaba?" Akira's - Joker's - voice, echoing through the twisted tracks of Mementos as he crouched down beside the snoring forms of Makoto, Morgana and Yusuke, the air around him wavering like a mirage of red and black his coat almost vanished into.

Ann blinked, and the illusion was gone.

"You mean in sleep?" Beside her, Futaba shrugged. "Deep enough we shouldn't wait for them to wake up here. We're only a floor down from a safe space, right?"

"Aw, man." Ryuji's voice was a drawn out whine, but he stepped forward to scoop Makoto up without complaint; Akira doing the same with Yusuke. "Guess that means we're carrying them back."

"And walking," Ann sighed, gently cradling Morgana in her arms. She frowned at Ryuji. "Hey, Skull - you want to trade?"

He stared at her for a moment, likely processing her words - then scowled, and shook his head. "Aw, hell no!" He yelled out. "You think I don't see what you're getting at here?" He leant in closer to her, and Ann knew that if he hadn't had his arms full with Makoto in that moment, he would have an accusing finger jabbing her way. "You think I can't make it all the way back on foot, is that right?"

Mutely, Ann shook her head. Neither Akira or Ryuji liked bringing it up, but the fact of the matter was that a lot of what made them - all of them - strong in the Metaverse was their own cognition of how their true selves should be. That meant for all of them that they were stronger, hardier - and for those two in particular it meant that Akira could see without his glasses, and that Ryuji...that Ryuji could run, and walk without a limp at all.

If that cognition faltered, though...then those aspects of their real selves came back. She'd seen a despairing Ryuji move stiffly in battle, one leg a dead, dragging weight, and she didn't want anything happening to him while they were all so in the open - Makoto vulnerable in his arms, too, with Morgana asleep and unable to act as a means of escape if something went badly wrong. If she was holding Makoto instead of a cat, then at least if Ryuji went down he'd be able to get back up faster.

She glared at him. "Appreciate my concern!" She said. "I'm just worried for you -" 

A sigh made her fall silent. Akira, having moved ahead with Futaba, stared at them both with Yusuke's head tucked against his shoulder, the fox shape of his mask leaving indentations along Akira's neck. Their leader was pretty quiet overall, which made every sound he did actually make all that more noticeable - Ann felt herself flush a bit as she stepped away from both Ryuji and their admittedly juvenile squabble as she read the message behind his expression.

"Ah, shit - sorry," Ryuji said quietly as they both started moving towards the other two members of their party, likely feeling as scolded as she did. "I just - its Mementos, you know? It...it gets to me."

Ann nodded wordlessly as they followed Futaba's guidance, completely dependent on her to lead them back to the safe space on the floor above them; outside of Morgana's bus form Mementos looked even stranger, and navigating was nearly impossible. "I do know," she said. "Everything...everything feels tense here. Almost more than a palace sometimes...like a million eyes are always on me."

Ryuji made a grunting noise of assent, and shifted Makoto in his arms. Her head lolled back, whacking against one of the metal plates on his jacket with an impact that made both he and Ann wince.

"Do you think she'll feel that when she wakes up?" He hissed out. "Shit...she'll kill me."

"She's asleep," Akira pointed out from just ahead of them. "If you hurt her she'll heal before she wakes up, down here."

"You were listening, Joker?" Ann asked, and the answering nod made her smile. Only he would speak up to comfort a friend before falling silent as he wondered if her tone was accusatory or not. "I don't mind, you know!"

"Well, good," Futaba said, and her voice was an auditory grin. "I'm listening, too."

"Yeah, but you always are," Ryuji pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if you slipped those little eavesdropping bugs of yours into all of our bags."

"...no comment!" Futaba called out cheerfully. "Also, would you look at that - we're here!"

Ann knew a distraction technique when she heard one (as the boys would never let her live down; the screenshot Ryuji had saved of Akira's 'strip for him, Ann,' message would haunt both her and their group chat until their dying days), but was too relieved to further interrogate Futaba when those final, frozen escalator steps leading up to the platform and a safe space became clear through the murky, warped air of Mementos.

"Oh, thank god," Ryuji groaned. "My arms are about to drop right off. Queen needs to lose some damn weight."

"Don't tell her that," Akira said, reaching the platform just ahead of them and gently placing Yusuke down on a bench to sleep the rest of his...well, sleep, off. "She already is so self conscious; she doesn't eat enough."

"Dude, I don't want to hear that from you," Ryuji said, and put Makoto on the bench adjacent to Yusuke's. "I swear, you live off bread and burgers."

Akira shrugged, and Ann rolled her eyes, settling back against the bricked wall as she relaxed slightly. They were deep enough into Mementos that the air down here still wasn't quite right, but it was still somehow just far less oppressive. Even the taste of it was different on the back of her throat. It didn't feel safe, given that it was essentially an eye in a very large storm surrounding them on all sides, but it felt safe enough that while they were stuck in these places, waiting for one friend or another to recover, the atmosphere became...almost school like. Like eating lunch together somewhere.

"He eats curry," Futaba pointed out.

"That's not any better!" Ann shot her a glare. "Joker, Oracle...both of you, please eat at least a little better."

It was hard to tell with the goggles eclipsing the top half of Futaba's face from view, but she looked affronted. "I eat fine!" She protested.

"You have the body mass of a twelve year old," Ann retorted as the boys wandered off a ways - not leaving the platform or their line of sight, just leaving their conversation. "Which would be fine if you were a twelve year old - which you're not."

Futaba crossed her arms with a huff, looking around them as if looking for a place to divert Ann's attention - and this time, she would definitely not be letting her get away with it.

She opened her mouth to tell Futaba exactly that when the other girl stiffened. "Uh, hey!" She yelled out. "What are you two doing?"

Ann blinked, and whirled to face the boys just in time to see Akira take a running leap off of the edge of the platform.

Ann almost screamed - a lifetime of 'stay behind the yellow line' beaten into her that it took a minute to register that Mementos, so of course, no trains - but she caught the air in her throat in time to change that scream into a yell of, "what the hell are you idiots doing?"

Thankfully, Akira had landed safely on the other side of the platform, and not splattered against the tracks, so the last bit of worry Ann had felt melted away. 

Ryuji had the audacity to grin at her. "Wanted to see if we could make such a huge jump," he said. "Looks like we can, at least here!" As he spoke, he crouched down slightly, as if preparing to spring, and Ann let out a yelp.

"Oh, oh no, the fact that Joker's going to have to jump that again to get back here is bad enough," she snapped out. "Keep both your feet firmly on the ground, Skull."

Akira laughed. "I thought I was the leader," he said, and Ann scowled slightly as she remembered there was another time Akira didn't mind speaking overmuch - whenever he was feeling sassy.

"You're both such boys," she complained, and Futaba giggled. "I don't know why I bother."

Ryuji sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I won't jump, okay? In fact, here, I'll make you a promise: I, Skull of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, vows to never make a jump in the Metaverse that wouldn't be possible in the real world." He grinned at her, and she couldn't help the answering smile that tugged on her face. "Does that make you feel any better?"

"...a little," she admitted, and felt true relief as Akira landed softly back on their side of the platform. "What about you?"

"I make no promises," Akira said, his voice flat but his eyes sparkling. "I'm a rebel, you see."

"Oh, yes, a regular delinquent," Ryuji agreed. "Worst criminal I've ever met." He threw an arm over Akira's shoulders and reached up to ruffle his hair.

"Maybe you should change my heart, then," Akira deadpanned, and started wrestling Ryuji off.

"Maybe - we - should!" Each word was punctuated with breath and effort as Ryuji clambered onto Akira's back as if attempting to push him into the ground. Ann met Futaba's eyes as she rolled them.

"Are all boys like this?" She asked.

"Most of the ones I've known," Ann admitted. "Yusuke is a rare exception."

Futaba stared at the two boys wrestling like puppies a little ways from them. "They look like they're having fun, though," she said, and there was something wistful in her voice.

"Yeah," Ann agreed softly, a faint smile crossing her face as she leant once more against the wall and settled in for the wait, absentmindedly running her fingers through Morgana's fur. "And in the end, I guess that's all that really matters."


End file.
